3 - The Sword of David and the Battle against Heresy

Summary

This chapter explores how music and liturgy intersected with models of the monarchy that emphasized military prowess and strength. Shortly after Louis XIII had had Concino Concini assassinated in 1617, the figure of Saint Louis IX, crusader, model king, and literal forbear of Louis XIII came to prominence, with the elevation of his feast and with a new liturgy and hymns that emphasized how the saint emulated David’s model of kingship. At the same time, David himself, frequently portrayed as a musician, featured widely in pamphlets and psalm translations or paraphrases that invited the reader or listener to consider how Louis battled heresy as David battled Goliath. In musical terms, this interest was not manifest in the liturgy of the chapelle royale, but the musicians of the chambre and chapelle nonetheless sang psalms together at the king’s mealtimes in the liturgy of Benedictio mensae, and in non-liturgical performances of psalm settings by Artus Auxcousteaux and others.